[Heather]

Comments have been posted to the club’s FB page on news that the WTMC committee have decided to move the WTMC Journal to a biennial publication. This is a short-term decision and the committee need to decide what the longer-term decision might be. See “Re-thinking the WTMC Journal” posted on 17 July 2019. The longer-term decision may mean no Journal. As mentioned in the FB post, and the President’s July Update (refer the Newsletter section of this website), the committee is sad we are at this track junction. I don’t think the lack of 2018 Journal sales reflects how we value this publication.

The Journal is not just a stunning publication we enjoy over the summer break or (if we are lucky to come across one) read from cover to cover in a hut on a cold winter’s night. Nor is it a simple (but beautiful) gift for whānau. It’s also a resource for backcountry trip planning (not just in NZ but overseas too). But most of all, it’s historical. Future generations will want to read what WTMC members did “way back in 2016”; they’ll want to compare photos of the landscape; see images of what the old huts looked like (including ‘Powell Hut IV’ built in 2019) and where shelters once were, but are no longer. They will smile at what we are wearing and be in awe at what we carry. Just as we do when we look back on old publications now.

As the FB post states, the committee would like views on the Journal’s future and ideas on how to keep it alive. Our ongoing gratitude goes to Tony G for his tireless work on getting this publication of WTMC’s history and members’ experiences to print each year.

Like others, I also think it’s a shame that we might lose the Journal. I would like to see the Journal return as something each member household gets at no extra cost to the member, or at a nominal cost. But it needs funding and the committee need funding ideas on how to support the cost for the Journal to continue (even if biennially). Fundraising, similar to how the scholarship fund gets its’ funds from, is of course one option. One not insignificant component of the cost is postage. Perhaps most Wellington based members (the majority of the club) would be happy to collect their members’ copy at a club night to save on that cost.

As a member, I encourage others to share what they want, see as important but especially ideas. Post either by adding to this forum topic, on FB, or email a committee member via the club’s website contacts form. A small volunteer ‘sub-committee’ is ready to get into gear and work through a longer-term solution and ideas from the wider club will help them.

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